So i was driving my 07 cooper S Cabrio on the freeway from work yesterday on the fast lane when all of a sudden I realized I was gassing the pedal but I wasn't getting any power! Look at the instrument cluster and i noticed the check engine light was on, 5 seconds later, EML light turned on.. at this point i was just coasting on the freeway with seconds to decide what to do... then another 5 seconds all the red christmas lights came on. I turned on the hazards and pulled over... turned off engine, restarted and it fired up no problem. Reved it and worked fine.. so i continued on and tried to merge onto 70MPH traffic and as i was gunning it, I lost power again in the middle of a merge and same events happened again.... pulled over.. I ended up trying to just drive on the shoulder to see what would happen. The mini would just rev up to 2,000 RPM and stay there... I ended up getting it towed back to the dealership where they said they are backed logged and won't be able to work on my car until wed.. hope someone here can help me! Thanks!!!

 

were you driving it hard? I had something just like this happen to my wrx a couple years ago...It was an overboost code, cut fuel and then christmas lights then nothing....sucked

 

nope... was just a regular drive back home from work in rush hour...

 

Unless you have the codes from the computer...it is all just guesses, especially since it is at the dealer, waiting to be worked on.
Heck we could pinpoint the problem...and it still wouldn't help you!
I guess it must be under warrenty, or you would have had it towed to a different place that could have worked on it Monday, or even Sat like some 3 party shops!
Is it a cabrio? Gen1?
If not, it's in the wrong forum for a '07.

 

Glad to hear you're ok. That could have turned out far worse...

 

If it is a gen1, may be the crank damper...did you lookmat the temp and see it going up rapidly?! Any burnt rubber type of smell?

 

Ya it should be still under warranty on my 07 cabrio.. ya i figured i would probably get a faster reply here than on the cabrio forum.. =P

Nope.. no burning, temp was fine, no funny sounds.. just lost of power.

Ya I am ok though! Thanks!

 

Good to hear you didn't get creamed!!!
You are more likely to get more views here anyway...heck, other than the roof, the car is 98% the same as any gen1 mini!!
Interesting....sounds like it may have gone to "limp mode" then...the reason for the rpm limit+power loss....
so it could be electrical...a sensor as opposed to a mechanical fault!
Good luck, I'm sure we will all be watching for the dealer's explanation!

 

I get a sense from the description your DME read some bad mojo and put the car into limp mode for safety reasons. Sometimes after shutting down the engine or disconnecting the battery it will reset allowing you to continue on your merry way with a code present or cel.

Something trivial can cause this event to happen....So try not to get too worked up over it until the news from the SA comes .

My Jag did this same exact thing to me few years back.. Turned out to be just an issue with the rear brake caliper/e-brake set up.

 

Hey guys...

turns out it was the throttle body, they are ordering the part as they said it needs to be completely replaced. I am still under warranty so it's all good.

So next time if you are driving and you lose power, it might be your throttle body!

Thanks for all your help guys thou!

 

Your symptoms are usually the ByPass Valve. Are they changing that too?

Glad that it is under warranty. How much longer does that last?

Rich

 

Your solution to the problem was what exactly came to mind when I read the initial post. If you press the throttle and go absolutely nowhere, it's a good possibility the accelerator pedal module or the acturator on the throttle body went bad. Gotta love drive-by-wire technology.